Virgin Australia Launches Economy X

March 30, 2017

Virgin Australia is shaking up it’s current Space+ offering by giving it a fresh new name and adding in some great new features. Economy X will launch on select Virgin Australia flights from May 21, 2017.

What is Economy X?

Economy X is the new Space+. On the cabin class scale, it sits between basic economy and premium economy. For an extra fee you receive:

Extra Legroom

Preferred Overhead Lockers

Priority Screening (Domestic flights only)

Priority Boarding

Premium Seating Location

Those travelling internationally will receive most of the domestic offering plus:

Priority Check In & Boarding

Guaranteed First Meal Choice (Long Haul flights only)

Noise-Cancelling Headphones (Long Haul flights only)

How to book Virgin Australia’s Economy X

Economy X will be bookable from March 31, 2017 with the product available on the following aircraft.

Aircraft type

Economy X capacity

Economy X location

Boeing 737-800

30 seats

Rows 3-5; Row 13 & 14

Boeing 737-700

24 seats

Rows 3-5; Row 10

Boeing 777-300ER

57 seats

Rows 20-25; Rows 26 & 39

Airbus A330-200

8 seats

Row 28

Embraer E190

4 seats

Row 12

ATR

4 seats

Row 1

Fokker 100

5 seats

Row 12

Fokker 70

5 seats

Row 11

When selecting a seat, just look for the Economy X section. If you do choose an economy seat at booking and decide later to upgrade, it can all be managed through the ‘manage my booking’ section.

If there are unsold seats at time of check in, you will be able to upgrade (by paying the nominated fee) by using the online check in or with an agent at the airport.

Platinum Velocity Frequent Flyers and up to eight of their traveling companions (on the same booking) can fly in Economy X for free on domestic and trans-tasman flights.

What else do you need to know?

The Economy X fees are per person, per sector, one way. So if you would like to fly Economy X all the way from Adelaide to Los Angeles, you will need to pay the applicable fee for Adelaide to Brisbane/Sydney/Melbourne and then from those ports to Los Angeles.

The fees are also charged in the currency of the departure port. Even if you have a return flight from Brisbane to Los Angeles booked, you will pay the Brisbane departure flight in AUD and the Los Angeles departure flight in USD (or be shown the conversion price to AUD).

Some of the seats are in Exit Rows, which means you must be eligible for these seats to be able to book them and some seats may also not recline.

If you book an Economy X seat and then later upgrade to a higher class cabin, such as Premium Economy, you won’t receive a refund for the additional premium.

Bottom Line

I wasn’t impressed by the Space+ offering on a flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane last year, so it will take a bit more convincing before I am tempted to try this out.